In typical ICC fashion, the Asian teams are all very strong. Somewhat of a surprise though it is not spin bowlers that dominate the game. The success of teams like India and Bangladesh are actually built on fantastic pace attacks.

The Sobers of my side. Funnily enough he isn't classed as an all-rounder, he is an opening batsman. Spent the majority of his career opening with Jefferson, and often playing as the sole specialist spinner. May bowls very useful off-spinners, and when he has form will slip into the Top 10 bowlers in the world.

One of my favourite batsmen. He never deserved to debut when first selected, Gratrix had a low 30's first class batting average and I only wanted him as he was the only decent batsman with a 'very aggressive' approach. He has turned into a wonderful counter-attacking batsman at 6. The perfect player to have bat after Jefferson, May, Popplewell and Fish have piled on the runs. Always scores close to a run a ball.

The record of Pollard highlights just how important Hemp is to Australia. A poor RMF bowler, but lack of a better option over the past decade means he keeps getting selected. I consider him the Mitch Johnson of my side, on his day will take a good haul, otherwise he will leak runs at over 4 an over and not look penetrative. Very useful batsman when in form too.

The only true all-rounder in Australian cricket (the only decent one with an all-rounder icon at least). Spencer has a very aggressive approach which makes him useful in the ODI's. I have given him a number of Tests because I like him, and he is also one of the few decent Victorians.

Bill Robertson
41 Tests, 2253 Runs @ 44.18
28 ODI, 658 Runs @ 41.12

A decent batsman to have close to the squad. One of the better first-class batsmen so his name always stands out when selecting squads.

Ramond Birtles
18 Tests, 1342 Runs @ 58.35
13 ODI, 463 Runs @ 38.58

At 25 he will replace one of Jefferson or May upon retirement.

Alex Agee
70 Tests, 5481 Runs @ 63.00
121 ODI, 3578 Runs @ 36.89

One of my original regen's. Close to retirement, he spent most of his early career playing with the likes of Ponting, Hussey and White.

I have always kept my tactics simple in the ICC series. For batsman in Test cricket they always started on 2 bars until roughly 1/3 settled, after which point they moved to 3 bars. As my squad suggests, the strength of my side has always rested with our batting. The plan is to always score 500 + in the first innings and then slowly work our way through the opposition with the ball. For the majority of my career, the best tactic to bowl teams out has been to bowl long spells with the spinners (Fry, Corbett, Broudie and May), and wait for Hemp to fully rest for another spell. I rarely bowl teams out in less than 80 overs, hence the high averages for the majority of my bowlers.

Current players still kicking

For Australia, Ricky Ponting played until the age of 40. I believe he played close to 200 Tests when he retired. Cameron White was the only other modern-day player who achieved a decent career at international level.

For England. Ian Bell is now 38 and has played 100 Tests to average 32.10. Matt Prior has 62 Tests with an average of 31.37.

For India, Gautam Gambhir still survives and has 102 Tests with an average of 43.06.

Jesse Ryder has 54 Tests for New Zealand, but not a great career with an average of 33.84.
Taufeeq Umar has managed to play 154 Tests for Pakistan and has made a decent career. Umar has 11419 Runs @ 40.21. Zulqarnain Haider retains the gloves and has 151 Tests with an average of 34.30. Umar Gul has a fantastic record at 36 years of age. 135 Tests with 714 wickets @ 26.38.

South Africa have not been a team to force players into retirement. The greatest career is Graeme Smith, who at 40 is still captain of South Africa. 233 Tests, 20228 Runs @ 46.39. Rudolph still manages to play for South Africa with 182 Tests, 15346 Runs @ 47.50. JP Duminy has 84 Tests at an average of 34.25. AB De Villiers has the terrible record of 54 Tests at an average of 24.79.

Aftab Ahmed has forged a decent career with Bangladesh. From 109 Tests he has an average of 38.50. Manjural Islam (RIP) is still playing with 115 Tests and 444 wickets @ 27.00. Adbur Razzak has become a great Test bowler with 357 Wickets @ 26.52.

Zimbabwe has hardly changed. Mpofu, Rainsford, Panyangara, Utseya, Matsikenyeri, Sibanda, Strydom and Chibhabha still play. They are all rubbish.

In the last match of a 3 test tour of Pakistan just chased down 568 in the final innings to win. I might have had a larger 4th innings chase than this, but if so I can't remember one.

Kind of an odd match overall, the pitch was a seaming wicket on day one as evidenced by the low scoring first innings, but then I completely let the game run away when they put on a double century opening partnership in the third innings.

At first I was just looking to survive, but as it went along I got more confident and with around 170 runs to get in the final session upped the aggression to 5 bars, before needing 80odd in the last hour and going to 7 bars, then finally max aggression for the last couple of overs. In the end made it with two balls to spare!

NB: Charles Harrison is my regular no. 10 who came in as a nightwatchman.

In typical ICC fashion, the Asian teams are all very strong. Somewhat of a surprise though it is not spin bowlers that dominate the game. The success of teams like India and Bangladesh are actually built on fantastic pace attacks.

The Sobers of my side. Funnily enough he isn't classed as an all-rounder, he is an opening batsman. Spent the majority of his career opening with Jefferson, and often playing as the sole specialist spinner. May bowls very useful off-spinners, and when he has form will slip into the Top 10 bowlers in the world.

One of my favourite batsmen. He never deserved to debut when first selected, Gratrix had a low 30's first class batting average and I only wanted him as he was the only decent batsman with a 'very aggressive' approach. He has turned into a wonderful counter-attacking batsman at 6. The perfect player to have bat after Jefferson, May, Popplewell and Fish have piled on the runs. Always scores close to a run a ball.

The record of Pollard highlights just how important Hemp is to Australia. A poor RMF bowler, but lack of a better option over the past decade means he keeps getting selected. I consider him the Mitch Johnson of my side, on his day will take a good haul, otherwise he will leak runs at over 4 an over and not look penetrative. Very useful batsman when in form too.

The only true all-rounder in Australian cricket (the only decent one with an all-rounder icon at least). Spencer has a very aggressive approach which makes him useful in the ODI's. I have given him a number of Tests because I like him, and he is also one of the few decent Victorians.

Bill Robertson
41 Tests, 2253 Runs @ 44.18
28 ODI, 658 Runs @ 41.12

A decent batsman to have close to the squad. One of the better first-class batsmen so his name always stands out when selecting squads.

Ramond Birtles
18 Tests, 1342 Runs @ 58.35
13 ODI, 463 Runs @ 38.58

At 25 he will replace one of Jefferson or May upon retirement.

Alex Agee
70 Tests, 5481 Runs @ 63.00
121 ODI, 3578 Runs @ 36.89

One of my original regen's. Close to retirement, he spent most of his early career playing with the likes of Ponting, Hussey and White.

I have always kept my tactics simple in the ICC series. For batsman in Test cricket they always started on 2 bars until roughly 1/3 settled, after which point they moved to 3 bars. As my squad suggests, the strength of my side has always rested with our batting. The plan is to always score 500 + in the first innings and then slowly work our way through the opposition with the ball. For the majority of my career, the best tactic to bowl teams out has been to bowl long spells with the spinners (Fry, Corbett, Broudie and May), and wait for Hemp to fully rest for another spell. I rarely bowl teams out in less than 80 overs, hence the high averages for the majority of my bowlers.

Current players still kicking

For Australia, Ricky Ponting played until the age of 40. I believe he played close to 200 Tests when he retired. Cameron White was the only other modern-day player who achieved a decent career at international level.

For England. Ian Bell is now 38 and has played 100 Tests to average 32.10. Matt Prior has 62 Tests with an average of 31.37.

For India, Gautam Gambhir still survives and has 102 Tests with an average of 43.06.

Jesse Ryder has 54 Tests for New Zealand, but not a great career with an average of 33.84.
Taufeeq Umar has managed to play 154 Tests for Pakistan and has made a decent career. Umar has 11419 Runs @ 40.21. Zulqarnain Haider retains the gloves and has 151 Tests with an average of 34.30. Umar Gul has a fantastic record at 36 years of age. 135 Tests with 714 wickets @ 26.38.

South Africa have not been a team to force players into retirement. The greatest career is Graeme Smith, who at 40 is still captain of South Africa. 233 Tests, 20228 Runs @ 46.39. Rudolph still manages to play for South Africa with 182 Tests, 15346 Runs @ 47.50. JP Duminy has 84 Tests at an average of 34.25. AB De Villiers has the terrible record of 54 Tests at an average of 24.79.

Aftab Ahmed has forged a decent career with Bangladesh. From 109 Tests he has an average of 38.50. Manjural Islam (RIP) is still playing with 115 Tests and 444 wickets @ 27.00. Adbur Razzak has become a great Test bowler with 357 Wickets @ 26.52.

Zimbabwe has hardly changed. Mpofu, Rainsford, Panyangara, Utseya, Matsikenyeri, Sibanda, Strydom and Chibhabha still play. They are all rubbish.

Have an Indian save file on 2021 myself. Will post stats shortly. I think there was a problem with my save file which caused every good batsman to be a wicketkeeper for some reason.

59 tests 7037 runs @ 99.11 with 28 tons and 19 50s. Has 145 catches and 4 stumpings too. Aggressive opener who sets both tests and ODIs up from the opening spot. Incredible strike rate to go with that test avg. Age: 27.

S Singh - One of the 2 specialist batsmen in my side. Great opening partner for Kanitkar.

2749 runs from 27 tests at an average of 78.54 with 9 100s and 5 50s.
Career highlight: Pummeling Zimbabwe in a test match where he got 478 runs at more than run a ball which is now the national record for the individual highest test score. Not as aggressive as Kanitkar though. Can block one end and play defensively when there is a collapse, not that there are any. Age: 26.

Top/Middle Order

T Sharma - Was the back bone of my batting line up when Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag retired in the same year(****s!). Was also the keeper/captain for a couple of seasons and allowed me to get more batsmen into the side to make up for that big blow the seniors gave me by retiring all at once. Best batsman of the side around who I built my team. Not an aggressive player. Not defensive either. Can switch gears at will.

107 tests 12352 runs @ 95.75 with 47 100s and 39 50s. 209 catches and 6 stumpings as a keeper. Been the captain of the side for a long time too. Age: 30.

S Chavan - The Wall V2.0. Defensive player who can bat for long periods while other batsmen play their shots. Can shield the tail and play crucial knocks to save test matches. The guy who remains not out and just stays there till the end no matter what. Been my no.4 for the last few seasons. Can keep wickets too. Specialist keeper. Never kept wickets though. Fields in the slips almost always.

5549 runs from 75 matches @ 70.24. No double hundreds for him yet. Also has 157 catches. Age: 26.

W Sunil - One of the 2 players from the side to have an English county contract. Plays for Northamptonshire. Great no.5 bat who is again a specialist Wk. Never kept wickets in international games. Surprisingly, only player who can bowl spin in the line up. Scored an impossible 300 when we were following on once to save a test match. Age: 27.

40 tests 3392 runs @ 94.22 with 14 tons and 8 50s.

N Gopal - New guy who just made it into the test side earlier in the season. Only decent counter attacking player I could find in the national pool. Very aggressive player who bats at 6 in the test side. Is a keeper again. Scored a 120 ball 184 to win a test for me in the last session of a test in his debut. One for the future for sure. Age: 22.

9 tests 544 runs @ 90.67 with 3 100s and one 50.

Lower Order

M Gera - Specialist batsman @ no.7. My team's last line of defence when there is a collapse. Veteran player. Has played test cricket for 10 years. Age: 32.

85 tests 5629 runs @ 66 with 20 100s and 28 50s.

S Hussain - Promising left arm pace bowler who can bat a bit. Has 2 aggressive 100s from no.8. Can buy the team time to bowl the opponents out if we are looking for quick runs before a declaration. Always gets out in the single digits quickly if he is asked to play defensively. Not much use if you want to block your way to saving a test match. Age: 21.

30 tests 746 runs @ 28 with 2 100s and 2 50s. 145 wickets @ 24.50.

R Sachin - Promising pace bowler who debuted in tests this season. Almost like Mitchell Johnson. Goes wicketless for large parts of the game and grabs 4-5 wickets with a sudden burst in a spell out of nowhere. Frustrating bowler but promising. Age: 18.

10 matches 45 wickets @ 26.11.

H Arothe - First pure fast bowler in my test side. Has really good seasons and awful ones. Unpredictable bowler. Devastating when on form though. to give you an example, averaged 35+ last season for 32 wickets but he has taken 44 @ 14.93 so far this season. Veteran bowler. Age: 32.

92 tests 324 wickets @ 28.56.

K Khan - McGrath like Fast Medium bowler who has carried the attack with countless partners who have been chopped and changed over the years. The wheel of mediocrity exists in ICC too! Plays for Yorkshire when not playing for India. Age: 29.

72 matches 418 wickets @ 22.45 with 29 5fers and 6 10fers.

Reserves:

A Kapoor - Specialist opener who averages 63 in FC cricket. Got a couple of chances when S Singh was injured and did not use the chance well. Averaging 7 in tests after 2 games. Age: 24.

F Mehra - Batsman who used to play tests for India. Got into a form slump and others took his place and hasn't played national games since then if there are no injuries. Avgs 56 after 46 tests with 3320 runs. Has 8 tons and 20 fifties to his name. Age: 32.

S Oasis - All rounder who just plays ODIs. Has just played one test. Don't need him tbf. Age: 27.

K Kamal - Left arm fast bowler who is a back up bowler. Has played when one of my first choice fast bowlers is injured. Has 20 wickets @ 27 after 5 tests. Age: 24.

Very nice cricketers Shri. Reminds me of the original ICC which had the wicketkeeper bug. Wicketkeepers who could only be run-out, I always tried to avoid them for my own teams, but a nightmare when playing other county sides.

Very nice cricketers Shri. Reminds me of the original ICC which had the wicketkeeper bug. Wicketkeepers who could only be run-out, I always tried to avoid them for my own teams, but a nightmare when playing other county sides.

Yeah, been a long time since I had a specialist bat. Every one of them are wicketkeepers though not like they can never be dismissed. Just batsmen who are too good compared to batters from other teams. Would gladly give every one of them up in exchange for great bowlers.

It's with the original database - he was doing well on my iPod so I thought I'd start a game on my computer and see how he went in that. Not too bad it would appear, as he has mid 20 averages in both tests and ODIs